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Thursday, May 11 7:05pm ET
Mets at their best behind Leiter | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The New York Mets remained unbeaten with Al Leiter on the mound, getting an eight-hitter from the left-hander and a solo homer and two RBI from Todd Zeile to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 Thursday night. Leiter (4-0) struck out eight as the Mets improved to 7-0 when he starts this season. The Mets had lost 10 of 14 and were 4-8 on a season-long 13-game road trip until Leiter pitched his first complete game of the season. The Mets scored twice with the help of right fielder Brian Giles' error in the first inning, even though Rickey Henderson was thrown out at home, and Zeile homered leading off the fourth inning. The Pirates had won four of five and had scored at least 11 runs in each of their last three victories, including a 13-9 decision Wednesday. Leiter is 3-1 with a 1.20 ERA lifetime against the Pirates. Five of the first six Mets batters reached base in the first against Jimmy Anderson (1-1), who yielded six hits and three runs -- two earned -- in six innings. Anderson pitched eight shutout innings in beating the Mets 2-0 on April 15. Henderson, still with the Mets despite clearing waivers the day before, walked to start the first. Derek Bell followed with a double to right but Henderson seemed to get off to a slow start from first and was thrown out at home on a relay throw from Giles to second baseman Mike Benjamin. Bell advanced to third on the throw and scored as Giles dropped Edgardo Alfonzo's fly ball. The ball seemed to knuckle on Giles, who watched it skip off his glove as Alfonzo took second. After a groundout and a walk, Zeile lined a run-scoring single to right. Anderson kept the inning from becoming even bigger by getting Benny Agbayani to line out to second with the bases loaded. Zeile led off the fourth with his third homer. The Pirates had gotten a run back in the second with first baseman Zeile's throwing error on a rundown play leading to Luis Sojo's run-scoring single. The Mets caught Kevin Young halfway between second and third, but he ducked under third baseman Robin Ventura's tag before Zeile threw wildly. Chad Hermansen had a pair of hits for the Pirates, including a solo homer on Leiter's first pitch of the fifth. Hermansen began the game batting .103 as a leadoff hitter. Game notesLeiter's only complete game last season came in the one-game wild-card playoff against Cincinnati on Oct. 4. ... The Pirates begin a three-game series at home Friday against the Brewers, who were 6-0 in Pittsburgh last season. ... Wil Cordero singled in the second for his sixth consecutive hit over two nights before grounding out in the fourth. ... The one-run victory was the Mets' eighth this season. ... Their 13-game road trip that ended Thursday night was their longest since a 13-game trip late in the 1995 season. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard NY Mets Clubhouse Pittsburgh Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 11 Baltimore 4
NY Mets 3
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